The Kyoto Protocol: Protocol To The United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change

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Political Initiatives to reduce global warming
The Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aimed at fighting global warming to lessen climate change. The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty with the goal of achieving the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system’’
The Protocol was initially adopted on 11th of December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, and entered into force on 16th February 2005. As of September 2011, 191 states have signed and approved the protocol. The only remaining signatory not to have ratified the protocol is the USA, who actually releases more greenhouse gasses than any other nation and accounts for more than 25% of those generated by people worldwide. Australia also declined to approve of the protocol until 2007. Other United Nations member states which did not ratify the protocol are Afghanistan, Andorra and South Sudan. In December 2011, Canada renounced the Protocol, and most other industrialized nations, support the Kyoto Protocol.
Under the Protocol, 37 countries ("Annex I countries") commit themselves to a reduction of four greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride and two groups of gases hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons produced by them, and all member countries give general commitments. At negotiations, Annex I countries (including the US) collectively agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% on average for the period of 4 years from 2008-2012. This reduction is relative to their annual emissions in a base year, below 1990 levels. Since the US ha...

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...f one metric ton of carbon dioxide, or is equivalent in other greenhouse gasses.
There are two markets for carbon offsets. In the larger market, companies and governments buy carbon offsets in order to comply with caps on the total amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit. In 2006, around $5.5 billion of carbon offsets were purchased, representing around 1.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide reductions.
In smaller markets, individuals, companies and governments purchase carbon off sets to mitigate their own greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, electricity and other sources. Individuals might purchase carbon offsets to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions caused by personal air travel. In 2006, approximately $91 million of carbon offsets were bought in the voluntary market, representing around 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide reductions.

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